Speaker has a week now to decide about PM’s fate: IHC

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court referred to the IHC chief justice on Thursday a petition seeking constitution of a larger bench to hear the case pertaining to the Supreme Court’s verdict against Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in the contempt case and his possible disqualification as prime minister.

Hearing the petition of Advocate G.M. Chaudhry, Justice Siddiqui asked the registrar’s office to place the matter before Chief Justice Iqbal Hameedur Rehman.

The judge advised the petitioner to be patient, saying the speaker of the National Assembly had 30 days to decide about sending a reference for the prime minister’s disqualification to the Election Commission.

He said three weeks had passed and the petitioner should wait for another week to see how the case had moved ahead.

“The speaker has been running the house for over four years and I believe she can handle the matter in a professional manner,” Justice Siddiqui said.

The petitioner said he did not care what the speaker would do and requested the court to stop the prime minister and his cabinet from performing their duties.

The judge reminded him to respect the constitutional institutions and not to pass such remarks against the speaker.